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Colombia (Country Guide) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Michael Kohn, Robert Landon
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Category: Book
List Price: $22.99
Buy Used: $13.95
You Save: $9.04 (39%)
New (33) Used (8) from $13.95
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 87423
Media: Paperback
Edition: 4
Pages: 276
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 1741042844
Dewey Decimal Number: 918
EAN: 9781741042849
ASIN: 1741042844
Publication Date: June 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: EX-LIBRARY; used item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned for refund. Buy with confidence - your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics!
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Product Description
Discover the best kept secret in South America. Colombia is safer than ever, affordable and still blissfully uncrowded - an independent traveler's dream. Laze on palm-fringed Caribbean beaches. Canoe slient rivers through lush rainforest. Stroll Cartagena's colonial old town. Salsa all night in Cali. Packed with practical advice and valuable tips for trouble-free travel, our peerless guide enables you to explore with confidence.
The Basics - detailed maps, tailored itineraries and easy-to-use directory help make the most of your trip.
Adrenaline Rushes - the best spots for diving, rafting, hiking, rock-climbing and other thrills.
Straight Talk - honest advice on where to go - and still risky spots to avoid.
Discerning Reviews - opinionated authors give the lowdown on where to sleep, eat and pain the town.
Colombia 101 - in-depth background chapters provide insight into the country and its people.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Worst LP Guidebook I Have Ever Used January 29, 2007
Chris Luallen (Nashville, Tennessee)
34 out of 37 found this review helpful
I just returned from a 2 week trip to Colombia. We stayed one week in the mountain town of Pasto, where my Ecuadorian wife has friends, and one week in Cartagena. The section on Pasto was OK. But the section on Cartagena was terrible. The hotels mentioned were mostly limited to cheap backpacker places in Getsemani, the worst part of town. I have stayed in many $5 places myself. But my wife, like most Latinas, knows that super cheap hotels often double as brothels or "love motels" in Latin America and refuses to stay at them. They also don't mention any hotels in Bocagrande, where most Colombians on vacation stay. I understand that Lonely Planet caters mostly to foreign tourists on a tight budget. But LP also offers the only current guidebook to Colombia and needs to cover a much broader price range in order to be of use to all types of travellers.The restaurant info was also very limited and of little use.
Furthermore, the 2006 edition offers practically nothing new in its "update" to the 2003 edition. A waste of money!
Did They really visit Colombia? January 25, 2007
G. Porecki (Warsaw, Poland)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
This is a very poor Lonely Planet book. I think the reason is that Colombia is still considered dangerous, though for the tourists it is not, and LP authors don't go to dangerous places. The example of that would be Haiti - no guidebook, no update in the new Caribbean guidebook, due to "unstability". Well Rough Guide Authors didn't have a problem with visiting Haiti and french Petit Fute has a recently updated book all about the island. And it isn't dangerous. Lonely Planet just chickend out. I think we have the same problem here. After Mr. Dydynski, noone s just brave enough at LP to visit "risky destinations". The question is, why write a guidebook like this at all.
Anyway, I've visited Barranquilla and Cartagena with this book. The part about Cartagena was OK, though the choice of restaurants was limited and I'm not sure they chose the best ones. The chapter on Barranquilla was laughable. I know it's not really a pretty tourist town, but people do visit it (and not only for the carnival), so LP authors should really write a bit more pages about it. It's a large city and got the amount of info as small towns do in other LP guides.
Well, to sum it up. Colombia is a very interesting country of over 40 million inhabitants and numerous atractions... now look at the number of pages in the book - small countries get 2-3 times fater LP guides... well, case closed - it can't be good!
Very poor January 14, 2007
Robert Allen (Toronto, Canada)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I have been using lonely planet guide books all over the world for over 20 years. This is a poor effort by lonely Planet and the authors. Very limited information for a country full of incredible people and places.
This Guide is a Waste of Money November 14, 2006
Colombia Traveller (Colombia)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This guide does little more than repeat SOME of what the previous guide did. Most likely the writer just checked out phone numbers, maybe eliminated those that did not respond. Many of the best sights, hotels, restaurants, etc. in Colombia are omitted, which will lead a traveller to skip cities altogether that should not be missed! When willl someone publish a truly useful Colombia guide???
Disappointed January 17, 2007
David Mellinger (Panama)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I have just returned from Colombia (December 2006), using solely the Lonely Planet guide for 3 1/2 weeks. I followed the Essential Colombia itinerary, which the book states will take 5+ weeks, in 3 weeks fairly comfortably. I started in Ipiales, worked my way up to Cartegena and back down to Bogota. There were the usually small errors, but by the time I reached Mompos, I wondered if the authors had visited Colombia recently. Permit me to describe some of the errors in just Mompos.
Mompos is reached by an 8-hour bus ride from Categena. The book describes that you may also reach Mompos more quickly by boat, and also leave upsteam by boat to El Banco. I checked with several locals in both Mompos and El Banco who stated there were no boats going to/from Mompos. I also did not see any boats along the river during my stay there. The book states that you can take a colectivo from Calle 18 (near the markets) at Plaza de Bolivar. Well, the colectivos moved from this location over two years ago. The local market moved 3 years ago. In sum, the material on getting and leaving town was dead wrong. Then there was the little stuff. The town can be walked easily, you don't need a bike. I couldn't find the bars listed in the book. I am a little surprised this was published in its present form. Senderos Felices!
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